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Jan. 22, 2008

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - For the second-straight week and eighth time in his career, Navy men's track & field middle distance runner Paul Harris (Sr./Fairburn, Ga.) has been recognized as the Patriot League Track Athlete of the Week, it was announced by the league office on Tuesday afternoon.

Despite missing several days of practice during the week with a sickness that struck much of the team, Harris produced a blistering time of 1:01.80 in the 500-meter run to win the event last Saturday. Not only was his time a personal record and an IC4A mark, it was the fifth-fastest clocking in program history. His performance was just 0.96-second off the school record set by Michael Greene, who owns the four-best times, in 1987. Harris's mark was also the second-best Navy time in Halsey Field House's 52-year history, only 0.08-second shy of tying Greene's 1:01.72 showing against Maryland on Jan. 24, 1987.

In addition to his efforts in the 500-meter run, Harris served on the second leg of the first-place 4x400-meter relay team that produced a time of 3:20.02. After the Midshipmen fell 50 meters behind in the opening 400 meters, Harris caught the lead runner 300 meters into his leg and gave Navy a lead that it wouldn't relinquish in the race.

With Harris's help last Saturday in Annapolis, the Midshipmen went on to tally 207 points and defeat the field of UNC-Wilmington, William & Mary and Mount St. Mary's.

One week ago, Harris was honored as the league's track athlete of the week following his NCAA Championship provisional qualifying time in the 800-meter run, an event he earned All-America distinction in one year ago. The product of Fairburn, Ga., completed the race in 1:51.05, which currently stands as the second-best time in the nation. Only Alex McClary's time of 1:49.28 on a banked track from Arkansas on Jan. 11 ranks faster than Harris's effort.

The Midshipmen (6-1) return to action this Friday and Saturday when they head to the Ashenfelter Multi-Sport Facility in University Park, Pa., to compete at the Penn State National Open.